Moist places, forested and open; quite local. Introduced from Europe and first collected in 1919 in Washtenaw Co.

Unlike our other Poa species, P. trivialis spreads by above-ground stolons to form leafy mats in moist soils, especially along shaded trails. Rarely, the keel of the lemma is nearly smooth, but the long ligules and scabrous pedicels will help to identify it.